GW1's future with GW2 taking the scene?

I seriously hope that GW1 doesn't die anytime soon with GW2 grabbing all the attention. Sure, it's a new game and GW1 hasn't had much in the way of content updates since EotN. But I'd just hate to see GW1 go under and us, as players, not be able to play it anymore within a year's time.

I'm worried about not finding the last couple items I wanted before I finished the game >< Better farm quick i guess lol

I noticed it's already happening.

It used to be that gold sellers spamming in LA and Kamadan gold/ecto for $ were banned after just a few posts. Now, I have had to report them more then twice before I notice that they dissapear. And they have just reappearing again under new accounts.

And the economy fluctuations are ridiculous. Weren't they monitored once? People are making fortunes over buying ectos very low and selling high....

I do expect that enough people will be playing GW to let them keep the servers running for several years. I also expect some very drastic changes on every social aspect of the game. That means that sc, if it still is going to happen on a regular basis will be smaller and limited to only two area's max. Economy will change radical and pugging will be almost none existent.

But what about Anet hinting at another expansion like WoC or WiK? I think that players would come back for that. I know I would, and you'll find a lot more out there that would do it for the lore.

I certainly hope Anet brings out another GW1 expansion. Personally, I regret having bought GW2. Looking at it from a GW1 standpoint, I'd have to call GW2 an inferior installment of the GW franchise. If I could get a refund and my serial key removed, I'd hop on that in an instant. Needless to say, I'd hate to see GW1 (or the gameplay GW1 offered) die because of GW2.

Could you elaborate on why you are so disappointed? I haven't tried the game yet so just want to hear your opinion. It's hard to find an unbiased opinion in GW2 forums so it would be a breath of fresh air to hear yours.

It would be nice to know if, now that GW2 is released, if we will see any more "Beyond" content or not.

I, too, found gw2 uninspiring...and will be playing the original until they pull the plug.
I am exceptionally GLAD I didnt spend money on it as it is nothing like guildwars and was not worth waiting these last few years to see. (franco if you want my list, send me a pm...)

They did say they would keep the servers up as long as people are playing, I am still playing....so the servers should be up for a few years (I would hope).

I am GLAD that there are less people, yesterday my ping was great! no lag in towns, no listening to people push gold sites...and since the vast majority (99.999%) of my loot goes to the merchant, the 'economy' crash doesnt really affect me. (never really did).

Sure thing. For simplicity, I'll break it down in a list.

1) no primary/secondary professions.
The reason why I enjoyed GW1 so much was because of this system. It allowed players to create their own build and playstyle. GW2's weapon based skill system is no substitute, and forces the player down what I feel to be linear by comparison.

2) no true quest system.
Players are given a storyline that focuses on their character, which leads to the premise of GW2 and the elder dragons. In a way, this could be considered one massive quest chain, but there are no secondary quests to supplement that, which means there is less player/world interaction.

3) open event based systems
To offset the level curve of the story "quest", there is an open world event system where players gather in an area to do a shared event. It sounds great on paper, but they are often repetitive and lacking in diversity. There is also the issue that there might not be enough players to properly do the event.

4) pvp
World pvp is fun, but it is overwhelming. You are forced to move in large groups in order to be effective, which can be difficult at times. In any battle of significance, you are more likelt to try and hit the first thing that moves rather than focusing a target and applying a valid strategy. Also, there is no small scale pvp that allows players to retain their items and skills. The mists pvp, which is the only other form of pvp (that I'm currently aware of) forces a set skill and item combination, and even defaults your character's appearance. In addition to that, you can't queue in the mists as a team, which often leads to friends fighting each other rather than working together.

5) overflow instances
There is no district selection like there was in GW1. Instead, there are two worlds, the standard world and the overflow world. Players are automatically placed in the overflow when there are toomany players in the normal world. Also, this queue is not group specific, just like the mists, which can result in a group being split up and having to wait for the party members stuck in the overflow.

6) the movement
They added a few mechanics, like tumbling, to make the combat feel faster paced, but the targeting system and character movements feel sluggish. I don't know why, but it could be because characters don't move to their targets automatically like in GW1 anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge believer in an action based combat system, ala DCUO and Tera, but GW2 leaves something to be desired.

7) the rune system, as far as I'm aware, has been completely removed.

8) skills are no longer broken up by skill type, which means there is no more stat point system that allows you to increase the effectiveness of your skills. Instead, you are given basic character stats that enhance a general aspect of your character (how hard they hit, how much they heal), which is only increased through items.

9) no dedicated healing class
They substituted healing classes by giving each class their own form of self heal, but they are only 1 self heal, which frankly isn't enough. I see people die all the time both in events and pvp, which would be heavily offset if there was a class that could be used for protecting and healing others, which I'm sure you could imagine is critical in massive battles in world pvp.

I'm not going to play it, and here's a few of the big reasons that come to mind at the moment (in no particular order):

1) No Henchies/Heroes/Companions
2) Forced level scaling
3) Lack of classic quest mechanics and Dynamic Events
4) Firearms and other tech like stuff added to the game
5) New combat mechanics
6) Launched without a security key

Explanations:
1) This is what made the game for me in GW1, and ultimately (along with the no-sub model) why I bought the game. My favorite games were ones in which I controlled a party of explorers and not a lone wolf character. GW1 was my first "MMO" and was hesitant on the grouping aspect. Henchies, followed with Heroes allowed me to play the game in my own way at my own pace. I could group when I wanted to on my own terms. That is no longer the case with GW2 - without instanced areas you are a lone wolf who is forced to be with the other players who happen to wander around and come within range of content and events.

2) I like the concept when it comes in with helping low level characters through content, but only when it is voluntary scaling. It's a great stress relief mechanism for me to take high level characters back to low level areas and one shot everything in sight. I also like it when I can get a high level buddy to help one of my low level toons through some content quickly to move on to something else. That is no more - the way I understand it, you character is automatically scaled down to the level of the content (however, you are not scaled up to higher level content, another minus in my book).

3) My playtime is often limited and as such, I want that play time to count towards accomplishing a goal or making progression in the game. So the classic ! over static NPCs suits me just fine. I am an explorer, but hate wasting time retreading ground I have already explored because I missed something on the first run through. Guided exploration with call outs for every quest is my preferred mode. Also, don't let the hype fool you - the mechanics may look different, but questing is still fedex at the roots. Whether you are putting out fires or killing a boss wurm, it all boils down to the "kill ten rats" type of questing - not that there's anything wrong with that in my mind; it's worked for the last 30 years and I happen to find it enjoyable.

In terms of Dynamic Events, I am also a completionist and like to check off accomplishments in my excel spreadsheet. As mentioned above, with my limited playtime, I want to make sure I can accomplish a set goal in the time I have. In essence, I want to play a game, progress, and accomplish goals according to my schedule, and not an artificial time mechanic in a game, especially one that by design may prevent me from accomplishing something in the time I have to play.

4) To put it simply, I do not like Guns in my Swords and Magic RPG. I don't care about time frames and advancement and all the other arguments that abounded after the announcement of the Engineer profession. It was an arbitrary design decision that Anet made that I do not like and the inclusion of which ruins my immersion and enjoyment of a game. The only exception to that rule would be if it became a Technology vs. Magic concept. Unfortunately, that does not work in a game environment, because to be enjoyable, the technology has to work like a magical item, thus negating any interesting take on the concept.

5) Much has been said of the combat mechanic in GW1 being boring and static. That may be true, but ultimately, it is one that fits my playstyle and is enjoyable enough not to ruin the experience for me. While the dodge mechanic and the forced movement to stay alive in GW2 may have its appeals. I just found it too clunky to be enjoyable in a long term way. It almost got to the point where I was thinking more of the one update in GW1 that caused the mobs to chase Hero Monks around in circles the whole length of the battle - Amusing the first time you see it; annoying as heck all the other times after that.

6) If I am wrong on this point, please correct me, but as far as I know, GW2 does not have a security key mechanism (the little keyring fobs things that give you a number you need to log into your account) to help protect against account stealing. In this day and age of gaming, not having that kind of account protection is mind-boggling, especially after the range and scope of hackings that have occurred in GW1 over the years. And apparently, there are already account hacks going on in GW2 now.

Ultimately the decision is yours. In the end, for me, there were too many things in GW1 that I enjoy in the game that are not in GW2 and too many things that are in GW2 that I do not enjoy in a game that made me come to the decision I have on not continuing with the new game. That coupled with the fact that there were a few comments and things made by some of the devs about what makes GW2 better than all the other games and how we should be having fun in a game that turned me off - no matter how much I respect the devs. What makes one game better than another and how one gets fun and enjoyment out of a game is purely a subjective matter and those comments made me feel like that if I didn't absolutely love what they did with GW2 and hate the "standard" MMO fare, then I was wrong for feeling that way, and that really turned me off.

Hanok

I see, thank you for answering. I guess the only question remains, if not Guild Wars 2, what else is there out there? Secret World, Mists of Pandaria, Tera maybe?

That's the problem, I was really hoping Guild Wars 2 was going to bring something new and innovative to the market which could make it stand out from the others but from what I've read and seen it looks more to me like a mix of Rift and AION...

To be perfectly honest, if GW2 played like AION, it would be a huge improvement.

I wouldn't say that GW2 doesn't bring anything different to the table - they certainly tried to do something different, which I find admirable, and there are things they did I thought were good. I think the problem comes from them trying to be too much "Anti-WoW" and trying to make things look too different. In terms of being innovative, I compare GW2 to Microsoft - both took many good things that others did before them and tossed them into their product. I think Anet will do a better job with their product, but I just don't see it as being as innovative as many others have claimed.

In terms of other games - as I said, I am still playing GW1 and will continue to do so. I also have found a new love in SWTOR, but that game is much more traditional and may not appeal to all. However, it is free to play up to level 15 (which basically covers the first two planets) and will be all free to play in November. That being the case (and me being the fanboi), give it a try and see if you like it - if not, then at least it didn't cost you anything but time.

I have heard positive things about The Secret World, but many negative things about the combat. However, that might be a game to try out as well if you are tired of the typical fantasy setting, and I am sure it will only improve in time. Tera doesn't seem to be as good as originally touted - apparently too much like the Korean grindfest games out now and like how Aion was in the beginning. DayZ seems to be getting some good press and is certainly different than the typical MMO fare. I'll tell you the one game I am interested in checking out more is Wizardry On-line. Wizardry was the first CRPG I played and is in my top 5 of games/series. It looks like it will definitely be more for the hard-core crowd (with perma-death), but since it's launching free to play, I am going to at least give it a shot and see if it's something worth playing long term.

Hanok

I just hope that this proves that GW 1 is a better game which Anet/NCSoft should have but more $$ into then greating a new one.

I would really like mail system for the time being.

Not to mantion how long these boards stay up compared to GW Guru2.

this, but having played a bit more today, i'd say vastly inferior

Do not expect opinions here to be any less biased than at guru 2. Most of the people that remain here are gw1 diehard fans, and if you notice, most of their issues come from GW2 being different.

I could easily revert most of what they have said. GW1's quests are even more repetitive than GW2's. GW1's movement is even more clunky than GW2's. Etc. Etc. Does that makes GW1 a poor game? :P

k, the thing that makes GW1 so special, and i'm talking about from a PVP perspective (pve is much the same though of course, AI is more predicatable) is that the skills, interface and controls are intuitive, so what really makes the difference, makes it a fluid game play experience is that your experience, your brain, the choices you make and the synergy of your team combine to make as perfect a game experience as i've ever played, GW2 is sub aion/terra with a counter intuitive interface

Just to clarify a few things:
7) There are runes in the game for armor, insignias for weapons and gems for accessories. They are also divided by minor, major, etc, and have a new functionality, where if you stack the same rune on your entire armor set, you'll get different (and usually stronger) effects for each armor piece you insert it on after the first one.

8) There are "types" for some skills, especially for utilities, and each type is directly powered up by certain traits. Traits also increase your stats, and most stats increase specific skill functions. As in, investing on your healing stat is going to make your healing skills stronger, and investing in your condition damage stat will make your condition-damaging skills stronger than your direct-damaging skills. Not that different than investing into healing prayers or curses, really.

9) The mechanics rely more on damage prevention than damage mitigation. That's why there's a dodge bar, and many, many skills to block or evade attacks. There's also defensive boons and "normal" healing skills to use, outside of your self-heal skill. People are only dying fast because they're still not used to this new way of playing the game.

8) I know there are stats that increase the effectiveness of skills. My problem is that they are now generalized and global stats rather than specific stats.

9) imho, a tab target game should not have an active dodge system. Also, being able to tumble twice in a 10-15 second period isn't enough to mitigate damage in world pvp. Even if it was, that's no excuse not to have a dedicated healer class. Both DCUO and Tera Online have a much faster and much more polished dodge system, and both have classes that primarily support and heal others, the former of the two games even has tab targeting. The addition of such a class would give a much greater potential for a tactical advantages, especially in pvp.